Despite what you might think, Democrats and Republicans both want a powerful federal government. The Democrats want a powerful government where citizens have the right to give the government a lot of money for social programs, and the Republicans want a powerful government where the citizens have the right to give the government a lot of money for wars. Pretty much the same.
Perhaps I'm just reading you wrong, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. :)
Neither party pushes for the right to give — their ideas are funded by borrowing and taxation. A right is a choice, and taxes are involuntary.
There is a clear philosophical difference between Democrats and Republicans regarding the role and size of government, but of course, whether or not these differences play out in practice in a consistent manner is another story.
The politics of war is simply a game of public opinion.
For example, here's a video of Sen. Clinton (D) arguing for the invasion of Iraq (without citing Bush intel): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYATbsu2cP8
Yes, I mean this very sarcastically. Liberals (like myself, I'm as far left as you can get, basically) think that Republicans are Pure Evil and that the Democrats are sent by God to fight those evil forces. In reality, they're all politicians, and they and their friends come before their constituents. I think a lot more Democrats are doing the right thing in general, so I'm willing to support them, but I also realize that they are causing plenty of problems.
A government-by-jrockway would look very different than our current system.
